Book 23... back on track

This short break from Book 23 to fix Book 1 is proving to be exactly what I needed, along with the meditation and contemplation of a good Holy Hour in front of the Blessed Sacrament.

On the drive home from my regular adoration time at my local parish, the answer I needed for Book 23 came to me. I want this book to explain a key (and final) missing piece of the history of the Feri not yet revealed. Although the characters do speculate on it, the truth has some gaps that I want to fill in, and I was waiting to reach this point before providing that final piece of the puzzle.

The Lord provides when we seek Him with all our heart and are willing to surrender to His will over ours. It could only have been Him piercing the brain fog with the explanation that came to me on the drive home (and keeping it in today's otherwise fleeting memory so that I could remember to write it down) to make the story work the way I hoped. My idea wasn't working. His always works best. I gave it up to the Lord and waited for His time, ready to listen. He provided what I need to give you a great story.

Once I wrap up this rewrite of Book 1 (and register a new copyright for it), I'll jump back into Book 23. I expect to finish the rewrites by Saturday and upload the updated version. This new version is longer (now a short novel--yay!) with more depth and more consistency and less freneticism. The narrative doesn't bounce around and the characters, especially Nya, will have more depth to them.

It'll be the same story but be much smoother and easier to follow. Some of the dialogue has changed and internal narrative is more thoroughly explained. Details have been added and some pieces removed that didn't add anything but confusion. This will replace the current version.

The new version isn't a completely new story but a more developed story, and it'll be better matched to the rest of the series. When I wrote Book 1, I had a slightly different vision of the series. If you've followed me through this, you may recall some posts where I expressed surprise at new characters and unexpected situations or details (like the Book 23 situation above) that altered the original vision.

Now, while working on the homestretch of the series, I have a fully developed vision and can go back and give the first book the treatment it needs without taking away from the rest of the series. It happened in God's time, not my time. I built the series on that first book, so I can't change it completely, but I can make it a better reading experience.

Thanks for sticking this out with me one book at a time! (20 published, five more to go! This is actually 22 written and three to finish.)

God bless!